99 Problems
by Dancing Peony
Summary: ["Spark" Special] Tomoko just wants to set up for the school festival in relative peace, but it proves to be a bit of a challenge when there are idiots running around messing up her groove. "Kuma-cchi, you're 'maid' for me!" "The only one who can be your master is me, got it?" "For the last time, I'm not the maid..." She's got 99 problems and they're ALL of them! OC/GOM.
1. Chapter 1

**99 Problems**

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 _Spark_ omake where the GOM aren't idiot basketball prodigies except Aomine (because he'll always be an idiot who loves basketball more than life) and all go to the same high school. _Can_ be read alone, but I recommend new readers to read the main story to familiarize with my OC and some references/brief descriptions of how they met. I'm incorporating a lot of info from **_KuroFes_** (characters' roles in school etc), but keep in mind I did tweak a few things to make this fic work so not everything is 100% accurate (but it'll be like 90% accurate lol). Also, watch out for some crossover cameos.

Enjoy!

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Disclaimer: _Kuroko no Basuke_ belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.

* * *

 _"...after school. Now, I'll let our student council president announce the upcoming School Festival."_

Shuffling of chairs could be heard with the microphone's projection in the announcement room. Then, Akashi Seijuuro's smooth voice traveled through the speakers.

 _"Good morning everyone. As Kobayashi-sensei stated, Teiko High's annual School Festival is coming up in two weeks and it is time to make preparations. Your class representative will be passing out papers that detail each year's duties and listed activities to choose from. Each class and extracurricular club is responsible to come up with a theme of their choice, and it must be approved by staff and the Student Council by the end of the week. I wish for you all to have fun and make this Teiko High's_ _ **grandest**_ _School Festival. Thank you."_

With that ended the morning announcements and chatter erupted between the excited students. In the first-years' floor, Okuma Tomoko, as her class 1-B's representative, passed out the festival sheets as her mind was still caught on Akashi's last words.

She often ran into the student council president during tasks given by her homeroom teacher, and she found him to be an extraordinary and _odd_ person.

Akashi was only a first-year like herself, but he's already secured the president position on student council with the recommendation from the previous president, Nijimura Shuzo, because the former had to transfer to America for family reasons. He was smart and courteous, thus the entire student body and staff respected him greatly. Though, Tomoko knew from conversations she's held with the redhead that while he would be lightheartedly saying something, his unusual heterochromatic eyes would be flashing dangerously. Wanting the upcoming festival to be the 'grandest' only meant that he would not accept anything but the _best_ while he was president.

 _Akashi-kun can make anything sound like a threat,_ she mused quietly.

When she reached the window seats, she received a small 'thank you' from Kuroko Tetsuya and a nod from Kagami Taiga, her two close friends. The three had hit it off right away during the spring semester when they were grouped together for a history project. Once everyone received a paper, their homeroom teacher ordered the students to quiet down so class can begin.

* * *

Lunch time was always chaotic at Teiko High.

While there was still a good amount of students who bring their own bento everyday, the majority of the students enjoyed the benefits of their meal card that gave them fresh cooked meals by the school's very own panel of chefs. Needless to say, it was overwhelmingly popular.

Tomoko was one of the students who liked to bring her own lunch, partly because she didn't enjoy the hassle that came with waiting in the long lines. Besides, she loved home-cooked meals. As she dug her chopsticks into her seasoned rice for the first bite, she saw a tray of delicious looking curry rice, steamed veggies, and a golden croquette slide next to her lunch as someone attached themselves to her hip.

"Kuma-cchi~!" Kise Ryouta cooed while rubbing his face against hers lovingly. He was in class 1-C, and because of his charming looks and profession as a model, he was well known throughout the school.

"Kise-kun, you always get the food so fast!" Tomoko mused, unbothered by his actions as it occurred almost daily. If only she was able to have the crowd disperse before her during lunch time like the model could (courtesy of his overwhelming group of fangirls who forced other students to move aside or get trampled), then she would actually use her meal card. "Shouldn't you be sitting with your fans?"

"Eh~ Does Kuma-cchi not want me here?" he whined. Another tray slammed on the other side of Tomoko and made the two look at the newcomer.

"Yeah, we don't want you here," Kagami replied with a scowl, his thumb jutting back to the group of girls who were glaring angrily at their direction. "Cause they're gonna be staring daggers at us the entire them if you don't leave!"

"But—"

"It's quite uncomfortable, Kise-kun, and you're sitting in my spot," a new voice made the model jolt as he craned his head back to see Kuroko's blank expression.

"Kuroko-cchi, you too?! B-But I just wanna sit with you guys!"

"I don't really mind," Tomoko said honestly and made Kise's golden eyes light up animately. She wasn't exactly sure why the popular male liked to hang around her so much; she doesn't recall ever doing anything that special to gain his attention. In fact, she was never that interested in him and even rejected his offer to give her an autograph during the first week of school.

At the victorious grin from Kise, Kuroko could only sigh softly and walk around the table so he was sitting on the other side of the girl.

"Oh, Tetsuya-kun, Taiga-chan! I want to talk about the festival—"

"There you are, Tetsu-kuuuun!"

A pink haired girl with a very well endowed chest bounced up happily towards the blue haired male. If this was a shoujo manga, one could see the flowers and sparkles emitting off of her as she slid next to Kuroko with her usual love-struck expression. Behind her, a tall and sun-kissed male came up with a tired yawn.

Momoi Satsuki and Aomine Daiki of class 1-D. They were the childhood friends of Kuroko, and one had a _very_ obvious crush on said male. The first time Tomoko met Momoi was when the girl barged into her homeroom on the first day and threw herself at Kuroko with tears in her eyes because they weren't in the same class. Momoi was wary of her at first, but quickly got to like her when it was confirmed that _no_ , she was not trying to steal Kuroko from Momoi.

Aomine was a different story.

Since he often skipped class, it wasn't surprising that they met when he was trying to skip another class and was stopped by Tomoko. He was quite annoyed by her at first and even threatened to push her off the rooftop if she won't shut up and let him sleep, but she stood her ground and since then, Aomine had slowly taken a liking to her. Now, whenever they meet, he made it a habit to tease her.

"Damn, I shoulda known you would drag me here to see Tetsu," Aomine rolled his eyes. He sat on the the other side of Kuroko, just across from Kagami, and focused his navy orbs on Tomoko with an amused smirk. "Since I'm here, let's go on a lunch date, Okuma."

"Oi, no one said your perverted ass could sit here!" Kagami growled. Did she forget to mention that those two always butt heads ever since she met the latter?

"Heh, what's an idiot tiger gonna do about it?"

"Screw off, _ganguro_!"

"Wanna fight?!"

The two's bickering quickly turned into an arm wrestling match, though it came as no surprise to the group. Tomoko let out a small giggle and dug into her food. The school festival was still fresh on her mind and she had wanted to talk to her classroom friends about the themes to get some insights... But that was pretty much not possible at the moment with the chaos that she grew so accustomed to.

"Kuma-cchi!" Kise picked up his croquette and turned to the girl. "Say ahhh~" At the sight of free food, Tomoko compliantly opened her mouth and waited for it to reach her mouth. Before it did though, a head of purple entered her vision and took a giant bite out of it.

"Thanks Kise-chin," Murasakibara Atsushi, also from class 1-C, mumbled with a mouthful of the croquette before effortlessly pushing the blonde over to make room for himself.

"M-Murasakibara-cchi! How could you!" Kise cried. The giant paid him no mind and turned to Tomoko with his typical bored expression laced with a hint of anticipation.

"Tomo-chin, did you bring any sweets~?"

Being in the same class as the popular model, they sort of had a symbiotic relationship. Kise would always get many chocolates and cookies from fangirls, but he wouldn't know what to do with it. That's where Murasakibara comes in as his seatmate—he would happily 'dispose' of them. Thus, meeting with the purple headed giant was pretty much fated to happen. Tomoko loved to bake sweets and he loved to eat them, so he would show up during breaks and lunch time to leech food off of the girl.

"I tried making biscotti over the weekend. They're dipped in chocolate!" Tomoko said as she gave Murasakibara what was inside a small wrapped bundle.

"Mmmmm~ I love you, Tomo-chin," he said before helping himself to the long biscuits, still paying no mind to Kise's now shocked cries when he heard the what _technically_ was a _confession_. Even Kuroko, Momoi, and the bickering duo stopped whatever they were doing to focus on the giant and exclaimed their disbelief.

"Did Mukkun just...?"

"Murasakibara-kun, you can't say that all of a sudden."

"Oi, you gotta be kidding—!"

It wasn't surprising that _another_ round of chaos ensued.

Suddenly, the rowdy cafeteria hushed when the doors opened to reveal two members from the student council, effectively making Tomoko's group go silent as well. This year in Teiko marked the first time that not one, but _two_ first-years being appointed president and vice president both respectively: Akashi Seijuuro and Midorima Shintarou of class 1-A. Whenever they appeared, everyone would stop and stare. Akashi for his status, and Midorima for his ever-changing lucky items.

Today it was a pineapple.

The group surrounding Tomoko grew confused when they walked towards them. The red headed president gave the salmon eyed girl a small nod, to which she returned with a smile.

"Hello, Akashi-kun, Midorima-kun!" she greeted them both. On most days, that was the extent of their interaction since they were all busy bodies and had to be in and out of the student council room. Sometimes though, Akashi would give her odd requests such as to watch and learn while he played a game of shogi by himself or with the vice president during lunch. Midorima, while usually indifferent towards her, liked to tell her about the day's horoscope readings.

"Let's both do a good job for the festival, Okuma-san," Akashi said to her suavely. Again, it somehow sounded like a warning. Heterochromatic eyes then scanned across the other faces at the table and he recognized all of them were from the other first-year classes. "I look forward to seeing all of your work."

Then, as swiftly as he entered, Akashi was on his way out. To everyone else, it just looked like he was passing by. Midorima stayed behind just briefly to leave Tomoko a word of advice.

"Libras will be going through a rough patch according to Oha-Asa. You should not let others hinder you, especially before the festival."

He looked straight at the rowdy group before her when he said this, then promptly took his leave. Kagami and Aomine both scoffed loudly as the cafeteria returned to its cacophony of chatters.

"They both piss me off for some reason," Kagami said and shoved some rice into his mouth. Aomine agreed, stealing some food off Kuroko's tray and ate it with gusto. It was probably the first time they've ever come to a mutual understanding of something: Akashi gave them the chills, and Midorima was annoyingly stuck up.

" _Anyway!_ " Tomoko grew chirpy after the brief meeting, and that was because everyone finally settled down enough to hear her out. This was a great opportunity to hear suggestions from such a diverse group of people. "Class 1-B is starting the voting for a theme this afternoon, but before that, I would love to hear what you guys are planning to do!"

"Oh, oh! I'm so excited for the festival!" Momoi gushed with enthusiasm and hugged Kuroko's arm. "I would want to do a romantic skit with Tetsu-kun! But too bad he's not in the same class..."

"That sounds like a dumb idea anyway," Aomine snorted as the girl stuck out her tongue in retaliation.

"What would Dai-chan do then?!"

" _Easy_. Kissin' booth."

"Who'd want to kiss you, pervert!"

"Oi Okuma," his navy eyes pierced into Tomoko's wide ones before winking wolfishly. "You'd come to my booth, right?"

"Of course," she blinked. "I'd love to come to all of your guys' events!"

"But you'd _participate_ in mine, right?" he asked again.

"I'll crush you, Mine-chin," Murasakibara interrupted to save the confused girl. Despite droning with his usual I-don't-care voice, his violet eyes were glaring at the tanned male threateningly. Behind him, they could hear Kise cheering _'yeah, Murasakibara-cchi!'._ Tomoko only giggled and moved on.

"What about you, Mura-kun? Have you and Kise-kun thought of anything yet?" The giant lowered his eyes boredly at the topic, but his answer contained a much lighter tone.

"I donno. I'll just decorate whatever~"

"I heard from some of the girls in our class that they're thinking of hosting a fashion show," Kise piped with a proud grin as his golden eyes sparkled. "They told me that I was their inspiration!"

Kagami rolled his eyes while Kuroko shook his head at the blonde. "That sounded really conceited, Kise-kun."

"... But that's what my _fans_ said, Kuroko-cchi!"

"Shut up Kise, you're too loud."

"At least Mine-chin doesn't have class with him."

"SO MEAN!"

Whenever this mismatched group of first-years gathered, the blonde model always ended up being the one person they unanimously picked on. He was just _too_ easy. Ignoring the ruckus, Momoi turned to Tomoko with a curious grin.

"Kuma-chan, do you have anything in mind for your class?"

Everyone perked their ears after hearing the pink haired beauty's question; all of them were interested in what Tomoko was planning. Like Kuroko and Kagami (they were required to participate anyway), the rest all wanted to support anything she wanted to do.

"Not really," she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly at all the curious eyes looking at her. "But you guys all had some great ideas! I'll still have to ask what the majority of my class wants."

"We could host some simple games," the redhead suggested with a shrug. Since he grew up in America for most of his life, they never had these 'school festivals' and he didn't think it was _that_ big of a deal. He thought of it more as those typical carnival games. "Or we could sell food?"

"Tomo-chin should do a bakery," Murasakibara chipped into the idea of class 1-B selling food. The sulking model suddenly perked up again.

"Y-You mean like a _cafe_?"

The giant shrugged and Kise looked thoughtful. Ideas ran through his mind and his eyes sparkled once again, grasping Tomoko's hands with an excited grin. The others looked murderous at his contact. "Kuma-cchi, you should consider doing a maid cafe!"

"Maid... Cafe?" she repeated and he nodded vigorously.

"Because you're _maid_ for me!"

Tomoko would've laughed and congratulated his attempt with the well-thought out pun if not for an empty tray that flew across the table and slammed into Kise's face, sending him backwards and onto the cold, hard ground with a loud _thud_.

"K-Kise-kun?!" she cried in surprise.

No one saw who threw it, as it happened so suddenly, but the rest didn't bother question it. The end of lunch bell then rang and everyone picked up their trays to dispose of it. They didn't bother to question why only the blue haired male didn't have a tray in hand when they left, either.

Tomoko, after taking care of the blonde and made sure he was okay, headed out the cafeteria as well. She caught up with the rest of the group with Kise and beamed brightly among the friends.

Lunch time may be chaotic with them around, but she wouldn't dare to wish for a day without these colorful people.

...Or could she?

* * *

There was many people coming in and out of the student council room that afternoon when classes ended, mainly class representatives from different classes, to report to the student committee of class progress and more importantly this week, each classes' voted themes.

There was limited availability for certain activities to avoid too much repetition, so everyone wanted to have their themes approved on a first-come, first-serve bases. Some themes are rejected because it violates certain school rules and will have to try again the next day; the earlier a class representative can get their theme approved, the more time the class will get to prepare for their project.

"Excuse me," Tomoko chirped happily as she walked into the large room and greeted the members on student council. She then passed the papers Aida Riko, a second-year on the student council. "Here's class 1-B's progress sheet and theme suggestion!"

"Thanks, Okuma-chan!" Riko thanked her and put them in separate piles. Akashi, who was sitting on the other side of the short haired girl, picked Tomoko's up curiously and looked it over.

There were _many_ suggestions on what class 1-B should do and everyone disagreed with each other when it came time to vote because they wanted to incorporate their own ideas. At the end, it was Kuroko who saved the day since he was the only one who was silently taking in everything his classmates offered and formulated an activity that the majority of the class would agree on.

Though, because of his low presence, it did take the class a second to realize that the male was even part of their class.

 _Poor Tetsuya-kun... I hope his suggestion works!_

"Hm," was Akashi's only response.

Tomoko grew slightly nervous when Midorima also leaned over to look at the final theme description with a frown; his glasses glinting under the afternoon rays passing through the windows. "...Is it too much?" she tilted her head with a sheepish chuckle.

"This is not the time to goof off, Okuma. Your class's theme is just a compilation of three different ideas—"

"Approved," the redhead cut the bespectacled male off swiftly and wrote the theme down for class 1-B.

"What?" the vice president frowned even more. "Surely you see that it is unusual?"

"Yes, but I don't see a _problem_ with it."

"..."

Since the redhead wasn't going to go back on his decision, Tomoko didn't mind what the other male thought and her face blossomed into a joyful smile knowing that the theme was approved. "We'll work hard on it!" she promised just as Kagami and Kuroko peeked into the room, prompting her to hurry since they were tired of waiting outside. They were going to go to Maji Burger after school.

Kagami gave the two first-year council members a glare as Kuroko, going unnoticed by everyone except the sharp gaze of the president, nodded at them emotionlessly. "Please come and check out class 1-B's event during the festival~!" Tomoko said before being dragged away by the taller redhead.

The student council members then returned back to their busy tasks, but as Midorima glanced at Akashi, he saw that the male was sporting a small smirk on his face while staring at the now empty doorway.

"What diabolical scheme are you thinking about, Akashi?"

"Oh? You make me sound so evil, Shintarou."

"...That's because you _are._ "

* * *

 **And so, Tomoko welcomed her first week of preparations... As well as her first week of problems.**

* * *

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 **Please leave a review :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**99 Problems**

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Thank you for all the positive responses! The next two chapters will be detailing Tomoko's "problems" - each segment is a new day (and a new headache). Enjoy!

X

Disclaimer: _Kuroko no Basuke_ belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.

* * *

Midorima wasn't lying when he said class 1-B's theme was unusual.

It was one thing to want to do a bakery, but Tomoko's class was going to add their own flavor to it and make an interactive game out of it. Now along with the bakery shop decorations and food prep, cosplaying was also going into the mix.

As class representative, Tomoko was responsible to help and make sure everything goes smoothly for the big day. Being on top of her job, she already packed a small planner with an organized list of to-do's for the days preceding the festival— _Sunday, October 29th_ —with space for additional notes that may aid in the future.

"Alright!" The clock in her room blinked 10:30 PM and she grinned at the little booklet in her hand, excited for tomorrow to come faster. "This will be a piece of cake!"

* * *

 **Task #1: ask the class for cosplay ideas, get supplies (Tuesday)**

* * *

"Kyaaaa, it's Kise-kun!"

"Why's he coming to our class? He's so handsome!"

Fangirls stopped and trailed behind the model as he went up to class 1-B. It was currently their first break between classes the following morning, and the girls inside the classroom all abandoned whatever they were doing to ogle at the blonde as he looked around for someone. Once his target came to view, his smile brightened, causing quite a scene with the squealing girls.

"There you are, Kuma-cchi~!"

The caramel haired girl turned at the familiar voice calling her name and gave him a small wave. She was talking to a few classmates about planning out the supplies for their theme.

"What brings you here, Kise-kun?" she asked. The model cheerfully grabbed an empty chair and scooted up to the group, again making the girls squeal.

"Murasakibara-cchi left me all alone because he was angry that people kept crowding our desks to ask me questions," he sniffed with sadness. "Isn't that cruel?"

Tomoko patted the male softly on the shoulder in sympathy. With a crowd that he drew, it wasn't surprising for Murasakibara to leave in annoyance. "I'm sorry to hear that. But I'm sure Mura-kun will come back," she encouraged.

"I guess it's fine because I get to spend my break with Kuma-cchi!" he smiled at her.

"We're actually in the middle of planning for the festival," she said apologetically. Usually she didn't mind talking to the blonde when he comes, but today she wanted to get the planning phase done so that the class can start on making lists for supplies and ultimately start construction.

"Oh, my class rep is doing that as well! It's actually why everyone was crowding around me," _more than usual,_ he almost added. "They wanted my input of how fashion shows go since I have experience."

Tomoko looked excited, "Class 1-C is really doing a fashion show then? That's awesome!" She was positive his class will be the only one doing it, especially since others knew they can't compete with the _Zunon Boy_ model when it came to appealing to the public and selling tickets for the show. Therefore, she had to make sure that she execute class 1-B's unique theme well to gain customers.

"Wow, I'm so excited! Kise-kun will be modeling right?!" one of her female classmates asked with hearts in her eyes. The others followed.

"Of course," Kise nodded. "Don't miss it, okay?"

" _Kyaaa_!"

"Or even better, come model with me~!" he joked while looking straight at Tomoko, his eyes showing longing for her to take the hint. The other girls sighed with love-struck expressions; if they had a choice, it was a given. Tomoko, on the other hand, actually looked thoughtful.

"Maybe we _can_ make an appearance..." she was mumbling softly, though the model heard and was positively struck with happiness. She was thinking that if someone from her class was able to have a one-minute appearance at class 1-C's stage, they could use the opportunity to advertise. "Though, maybe it wouldn't be fair if we're just using it as advertising ground," she chuckled. "Anyway, we need to start planning now."

"Oh, yeah," the girls giggled as well. Kise's presence almost made them forget they were in the middle of planning. Tomoko gave the model an expectant look.

"Sorry Kise-kun, but can you..."

Kise, mistaking her hint to leave as just a request to quiet down, nodded and interlocked his fingers together on the desk in front of him like a good student. "I'll sit and listen quietly!"

At the male's promise to keep quiet, she let it go and started to discuss with her class what they needed before the break was over. However, barely one minute into asking what character cosplays they should do, Kise opened his mouth again.

"What about a butler? I wore one for a shoot last year," he was staring at the caramel haired girl excitedly. "It even has a matching _maid_ outfit, Kuma-cchi!"

"...Will you be able to lend it to us?" Tomoko asked as he nodded fervently. She smiled and went to write it down in her notebook as the first costume idea. "Anyone else—?" she realized a second later that the class, mainly the girls, were distracted by the model once again. The guys, on the other hand, looked annoyed and some even left the classroom to get away from the ruckus.

"Kise-kun, was that photoshoot done with _Zunon Boy_?"

"Which issue was it?"

Tomoko tried in vain to bring the girls' attention back to her. "Guys..." Where was Kagami's loud voice and intimidating glare when she needed it? Kuroko wouldn't be much help in being noticed, but he could at least get Kise to behave. But, as fate will have it, both of them were called away for a task by the teacher...

"Can you dress up in it again for the festival?"

"Yeah, I want to see you as a butler!"

"Me too!"

The girls continued to bombard Kise with their attention, and he allowed them with a happy glow on his face. He promised to bring the matching outfits over and was already imagining just how cute the caramel haired class rep would look in it.

Tomoko could only sigh, deciding that she'll just have to try again next break when the blonde was gone.

...

"He's here again~!"

Tomoko's eyes twitched slightly, not knowing what to do. He has managed to show up every single break. She likes Kise, she really does. But this was just _too_ much. "Kise-kun..." she addressed, making the blonde smile as he strolled over cheerfully again.

"What is it, Kuma-cchi~?"

"...Can you stay in your own class please?"

"E-Eh?!"

[ Tomoko's notes: _Never be in the same class as Kise-kun because he's too big of a distraction._ ]

* * *

 **Task #2: start making the costumes (Wednesday)**

* * *

The next morning, Tomoko and Kuroko was walking through the school gates together when Kise ran towards them from the other direction. Tomoko noted that Kise was extremely happy this morning.

"Kuma-cchi, I got it!" he said barely above an excited whisper. "Your maid costume!"

"Maid costume?" Momoi, who just walked through the gates as well, blinked with delight. The blonde proudly dangled the black and white uniform in front of her curious eyes. Kuroko's eyes also held curiosity as he secretly imagined Tomoko wearing it.

The dress wasn't anything provocative, but modestly cute as it was buttoned all the way up to the collar with a tie attached to match with the butler's tie. The top itself was striped with a little bit of frill on the otherwise sleeveless shoulder, and the simple but cute solid black dress bottom was lined with white frills and had a matching small, white apron.

 _Cute..._

"It _is_ cute," the girl besides him nodded and Kuroko realized that he had accidentally said it out loud. "Too bad I won't be the one wearing it."

"..." There was a glint of disappointment passing through Kuroko's eyes before it quickly disappeared. "Tomoko-san, the bell will ring soon so we should head to class."

"You're right..." Tomoko looked at the time, and then back at the large crowd where the blonde was still in the middle of. As noted before, Kise was good at drawing the female populations' attention. So having the handsome model show off a cute maid dress in the middle of the school courtyard got the usual crowd to _triple_ in size. It wasn't possible to plow through that crowd without...

 _Oh, just in time!_ she smiled and waved at an approaching third-year disciplinary member who had a visible scowl on his face. "Kasa-kun!"

At the sound of Tomoko's greeting, Kise peered over the crowd and his face immediately paled. "K-Kasamatsu-senpai...?!"

" _KISE!_ WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT NOT BLOCKING THE ENTRANCE?!"

...

After school, the maid and butler outfits were stashed safely in the back of the room as class 1-B kept busy with working on their other costumes. The tasks were split up equally among the students that were still in class; some have their club activities or responsibilities they needed to tend to. While Tomoko was helping with cutting out the outlines, Kagami came in with a few others with fabrics they picked up from the store.

"Nice timing! Can you guys help with cutting?" Tomoko called as she picked up a needle to start threading. The redhead replied with a small grunt and sat next to her with the materials. "Eh, Tetsuya-kun's not with you?" she asked, remembering that she sent them both out to get supplies.

"He offered to help Momoi shop for her class's supplies 'cause that Aomine bastard slipped off somewhere," Kagami replied with distaste towards the tanned male's laziness. "What are we making anyway?"

"Hm? Oh," Tomoko looked back at her project and gave him a grin. "We're starting the samurai outfit today!"

Kagami furrowed his brows at the mental image of what he thought a samurai would look like and stared at the blue cloth in his hand. Shouldn't samurais be clad in armor and a heavy headgear? Were they going to make it out of this cloth? Or was his vision of a samurai _wrong_ all this time?

At his confused expression, the girl besides him laughed. "Samurais in the Bakumatsu period wore more of a yukata-like uniform. Don't you remember the _Shinsengumi_?" she informed the still-confused male and raised her brows. "We learned about that period in history, Taiga-chan."

"Eh... I might've fallen asleep during that lesson..." he rubbed the back of his head with embarrassment.

"Oh, Tomoko-chan! Aoki-kun volunteered to wear the shinsengumi cosplay, but we need to find someone who can switch with him because he also wants to help his art club during the second half," the girl helping her with sewing, Ayane, said. "But it's hard because he's 6ft tall..." she trailed off. They've already decided on most of the cosplayers and among them, those who want to change shifts halfway through. Tomoko can see how this situation was a bit troubling because none of them really want to make an extra costume since it was _a lot_ of work.

"6ft, heh, no wonder why you guys need so much of this blue cloth," Kagami mused offhandedly. His comment caused both of the girls' eyes to travel to him, and he suddenly looked like a deer caught in headlights. "W-What?" he didn't like that look on the girls' faces at all.

After a moment of silent inspection, they nodded their heads.

"Ayane-chan, Taiga-chan will do it!"

"Great!"

"H-Hold on!" he cried while reaching towards the girl, though it came too close to the needle she was holding and the sharp object punctured into his finger. "Ow, _shit_!" The prick caused his finger to pulsate with pain and he waved the arm around to shake it off. At the action, the needle flew across the class and everyone within the vicinity scrambled to get out of the way.

"Taiga-chan!" Tomoko immediately held his hand with panic. A droplet of crimson blood was quickly forming on his fingertip and before those around her could react, she stuck the injured finger in her mouth.

"O-Oi...!" Kagami's face grew so red, it looked like he was on the verge of exploding with embarrassment.

"Don't move!" she reprimanded with a small frown after letting his finger go. After coming back to his senses, he scowled and drilled a fist on top of her head with an annoyed blush across his face.

"Don't do that kind of crap all of the sudden!"

"I was trying to stop the blood!" she retorted back. The blood was already reforming on his finger and she tried to grab it again, but Kagami jumped on his feet and ran out the door at the sight of the red liquid. "Taiga-chan, where are you going?!"

"I—uh... Nurse's office!" he blurted.

"Wait! I have a band-aid in my bag!" Tomoko called after him again, but the redhead was long gone to hear that last sentence. "What's wrong with him?" she wondered. Ayane only chuckled next to her.

"I think he got scared."

 _But it was just a needle prick...?_ Tomoko tilted her head to the side with confusion.

"O-Okuma-chan, can you come here for a sec?"

The caramel haired class rep's attention drew towards the group across the class that called out to her with distress. Apparently, that commotion that caused a panic made one of them accidentally tore apart some of the finished pieces they made for the costumes during the frenzy.

 _Oh, dear._

[ Tomoko's notes: _Keep Taiga-chan away from sharp objects..._ ]

* * *

 ***Task #3: find inspiration when needed! (Friday)**

* * *

"Is Taiga-chan afraid of blood?"

Kuroko looked surprised when Tomoko suddenly brought up the question. As a member of the library committee, he had to report to the library every Friday after school to keep it organized, hence the reason he was absent from helping out his class today. Coincidentally, the caramel haired girl came to the library today in search for a book as a reference for one of their costumes.

"I don't think so," he answered slowly, remembering all the times the redhead injured himself because he was doing something stupid or being careless. There wasn't a particular instance that made him feel that Kagami was afraid of blood. "Why do you ask?" he asked as he led her to the section of books dedicated to fairy tales.

"He just seemed extremely shaken up after pricking his finger on a needle the other day..." Tomoko said as she scanned over the selection of fairy tales. "Oh! Do you guys happen to have a _Sherlock Holmes_ movie?" she added. "We're making his outfit too."

Kuroko nodded. Teiko High was as close to a prestigious school as it could get when it came to its' facilities; the library was massive with books and DVDs ranging from A to Z and was always available for the students to check out. While he left momentarily to search for it, Tomoko was also busy looking at titles for the book she needed.

 _Sleeping Beauty... Snow White and the Seven Dwarves... The Little Mermaid..._ she checked out the illustrations of the closest ones to her before setting them back with pursed lips. Looking up, she then caught sight of the title _Cinderella_ and her salmon eyes glowed. Reaching up for it, her fingers could barely touch the book on the top shelf. Frowning, she tried again but still couldn't grab the glossy binding.

"Is that a lady in distress I see?"

Tomoko turned her body around to see Moriyama Yoshitaka. She didn't know the third-year too well but he was friends with Kise and looked like he came to the library frequently. She suddenly remembered the blonde had warned her about something concerning Moriyama, but she couldn't quite remember what. _Oh well!_

"Hello, Moriyama-san!" she greeted the male, just happy to get some help. "I just need some help getting a book," she said.

"You know who I am..." the senior responded while emitting a happy glow. His fingers came up under his chin in a v-shape proudly and he seemed to have completely missed the second half of her sentence because his mind drifted off into wonderland. "I'm remembered by a cute girl!"

"Um..."

"Oh, right! You need a book right? I'll do whatever I can for a cute girl like you," he reassured her. "I will be your knight in shinning armor!"

"That's okay, Moriyama-san. I just need a princess," Tomoko giggled, wholly unfazed by his bold exclamation. "Specifically from the book _Cinderella_."

Moriyama felt the stab of rejection, but he wasn't going to give up that quick. "Well, then I can be your Prince Char—"

"I can take it from here."

Kuroko's monotone voice effectively cut the declaration short and caused the senior to jump back in horror like he'd just seen a ghost.

"Wh-Wha—? When did you get here?!"

There was a _'shhh!_ ' from the librarian and Moriyama immediately shut his agape mouth but continued to eye the blue haired male suspiciously. Kuroko simply handed the girl a DVD while in his one hand clutched the library's step-ladder. "I was here when you started talking to Tomoko-san, though I went back to get a ladder so I can properly help her."

"A-Ah! Don't worry about it, she asked me for help first!" Moriyama immediately snapped out of his stupor. "As your senpai, I got this."

"This is my job as a library committee member," Kuroko countered evenly.

"It's okay, Kuroko! I insist."

"I insist as well, Moriyama-san."

Tomoko watched their civil exchange with mild fascination and slight irritation. She still needed to get back and help with the preparations, yet she couldn't do that until she got the book and the DVD back to the classroom. Her eyes trailed to the step-ladder that was left on the ground.

"Like I said, I was already helping Tomoko-san earlier."

"But I'm—"

"Hey guys," she voiced, gaining both of their attention. Grinning, she showed them the book they were fighting over to get. "I got it!" she announced, thinking that she just solved their conflict. She turned to Kuroko and grew confused to why he had a look of sadness and rejection.

"..."

At this turn of events, Moriyama cleared his throat. "Well," he was back to being himself and gave Tomoko his best convincing expression. "Call me if you need help again next time. I'm always in the library for cute gi— _books_!"

 _Cute books?_ Tomoko wondered what genre of books with that description would entitle. _Light novels maybe?_ She gave him a short nod before noticing that the library seemed to have darkened mysteriously.

"...Moriyama-san," Kuroko finally addressed in his usual calm manner. The third-year turned to him with a casual look that quickly turned nervous. "I'm getting Ootsubo-san to ban you from the library."

Moriyama blinked wildly at the shorter male. The library was sort of a heaven for him because it hosted many cute, studious girls. That can't be taken away from him during his last year here! "Hold on a second! _W_ _hy_ do you need to ban me?! "

"This is a library, Moriyama-san. You're disrupting other people."

"Wait, Kuroko! Don't go! L-Let's talk about this!"

Kuroko ignored the senior's pleas and turned on his heel in search for Ootsubo.

Meanwhile, Tomoko took this opportunity to slip out of the library. She didn't understand what just happened in there, but she only shrugged it off as it wasn't the most important thing on her mind right now. _She_ still had work to do!

[ Tomoko's notes: _Don't get on Tetsuya-kun's bad side! Apologize to Moriyama-san later for getting him kicked out (?)_ ]

* * *

 **Task #4: stop by the drama club (Saturday)**

* * *

Tomoko came to school on the following Saturday morning early enough to witness a few of Teiko's sports clubs practicing.

So far, the girls in her class were able to finish most of the costumes. She was heading to the drama club in the auditorium to ask if she could burrow a few outfits. When she walked in the building, she spotted the club's president and waved. "Hori-senpai!"

A serious looking male with spiked brown hair turned at her greeting and gave a nod of acknowledgement. He was in the middle of directing a group on what to paint on the giant wooden board besides him, so after quickly going over the basics with them, he motioned for Tomoko to follow him.

"I heard that you wanted to borrow our Genie and Romeo and Juliet costume," he said as they arrived in front of their costume storage. The girl nodded, looking around in awe at all of the costumes the drama club owned and accumulated through the years. He grabbed the ones hanging closest to them and bagged it, "Here."

Tomoko graciously took it and hugged it to her chest when there was a commotion that came from the main stage. She was confused by the squeals but Hori ran towards the noise with a knowing scowl. "That troublesome prince finally decided to show up—KASHIMA!"

She followed Hori and saw the mentioned 'prince' was happily flirting with the small swarm of girls before being kicked across the stage by said club president. In a way, it reminded her of Kise and Kasamatsu. The pitiful prince landed before her and groaned in pain.

"A-Are you okay?" Tomoko asked, crouching down to help the handsome person up.

"Ah, thanks to you my lady, I'm fine!" Kashima said, recovering quite quickly as she dusted off the prince costume. Her real gender was unknown to Tomoko, who was mentally thinking that the costume really suited the 'male' _._

Tomoko smiled up at the dazzling smirk the prince was giving her. "Ah!" she suddenly perked up when she remembered what she forgot. Kashima was still holding her hands as she turned to Hori. "About the—"

"Kashima! The festival is in a week so you better be here to work or I'll kick your ass!" the brunette president warned harshly and Kashima quickly obeyed with a squeak before running off. "Always _causing_ more work than actually doing any..." he muttered to himself and turned back to Tomoko. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Do you have any more prince costumes? It'll be nice to match our princess," she asked, stumping the club president for a moment. Aside from the one Kashima was going to wear for the festival, he had just lent out the other prince costume to the class next door since they were doing a cosplay cafe.

"Is your class doing a cosplay cafe too?"

"Sort of... Half of us _are_ cosplaying and we have a bakery store base, but the cosplayers aren't waiting on patrons," she explained vaguely. This made Hori scratch his head with thought.

"Ah, okay. But sorry, I don't think we have another..." he trailed off, suddenly remembering something. "Actually, wait here," he said, dashing off to the storage room again. When he came back, he was holding a light cream colored suit top with gold accents and red suit pants with matching accents as well. "I wore this during my first year at the club, so it's altered to fit me. You can take it if you have someone who can wear it..." he said with a longing smile at the piece. He had worn it for his first ever lead performance at this school after all, and he treasured the memory.

Tomoko looked at the beautiful costume and grinned, taking it off the brunette's hands with care. "Thank you!"

...

When she walked out of the auditorium with the costumes safely in her arms and birds chirped melodiously above her head, she realized how _peaceful_ today was. Sure, she still had lots of preparations to do, like meeting up with two separate groups today for more work, but she felt like today will go by without much interruption.

"I just need to drop this off in our classroom now," she smiled at the bundle of clothes and headed towards the main school building. Because the auditorium was at the very west end, it required a few minutes of walking; she quickly reached the gymnasium and heard that the basketball team was starting their practice now. _Ah, the basketball team is working hard as well~_

"Ha? What do you mean Aomine isn't here?!"

"S-Sorry! I'm sorry!"

She paused upon hearing a familiar name and peeked inside. A tall, muscular blonde was sporting an angry expression on his face as he faced the other male in front of him. She knew the other male as Sakurai Ryo from class 1-D, the same class as Aomine and Momoi. He was shaking and profusely apologizing even though the blonde wasn't mad at _him_ per se.

"Didn't he come to school with you?" Imayoshi Shoichi, who Tomoko recognized as a third-year member of the student council and captain of the basketball team, asked with a falsely genuine smile. He knew the tanned male must be slacking off somewhere on school grounds. Sakurai nodded before apologizing again.

"I lost him on the way to the gym! I-I'm so sorry!"

"Mah, mah, we'll just have a few people look for him. Don't worry about it, Sakurai."

"Sorry!"

 _Poor Sakurai-kun,_ Tomoko sighed. Oh well, it wasn't her problem right now. As she continued her way to the main building, she saw the two people Imayoshi sent out to find Aomine not far behind and as she turned around the corner, she nearly crashed into the said escapee.

"Fancy seeing you here, O-chibi-kuma," he said with a lazy smirk. His arm was around her to prevent her from falling—or leaving. Tomoko narrowed her eyes at the male.

"You're ditching practice again! Stop giving Sakurai-kun such a hard time and go back to the gym, Aomine-kun."

"Eh, that mushroom's always apologizing anyway," he yawned. There was small bags under his eyes. "Besides, I was out late playin' street ball with a few guys last night. That basically counts for today's practice." The only reason he even agreed to come with Sakurai today was so he can get away from both his mom and Momoi's nagging for him to go. So he came, but he was too tired to do anything.

"I don't think it works that way," Tomoko gave him a skeptical look before nudging him forward. "Imayoshi-san even sent a few people out looking for you!"

Aomine rolled his eyes and stood his ground, adamant about not going and tried to go the other way (it wasn't that hard considering he was so much stronger than the girl), but then one of the guys on the basketball team saw him and called out to him.

"There he is!"

"Crap!" he grabbed into the girl and ran despite her protests.

"A-Aomine-kun! Wait!" Tomoko squeaked, trying to keep the bundle of costumes in her one arm from slipping.

They weaved around the buildings and confused students before reaching a secluded area behind the school with a few giant and aged trees shadowing the area. Tomoko was surprised such a place even existed since she's never went back here before. Aomine, however, seemed well acquainted with the place (among many other locations he liked to sneak a nap in during school) and made himself comfortable by plopping both of them down under a shading tree.

"Man, that was a close one," he said then looked at Tomoko with a raised brow. "You nearly got me caught!" She returned his look with incredulity.

"It's your fault for ditching! Plus you didn't have to drag me along with you, I have things to do!"

"You didn't look like you were busy when you were naggin' me to go to practice," he stretched his limbs with a few satisfying cracks. His navy orbs traveled to the big bag laying besides her. "What's in the bag?" _Are those the costumes? Heh, I bet she'll look hot in a—_

"None of your business," Tomoko cut his thoughts short and stuck out her tongue She made a move to get up, "You really should get back to practice. I'm leaving." Within a second, she was promptly pulled back down by the male and she let out a surprised whine when he laid his head on her lap and stopped her from getting back up.

"Aomine-kun!"

"What?"

"Why are you laying on me?"

"Payback," he said simply with his eyes closed.

Expression laced with disbelief, Tomoko started poking his cheeks repeatedly, hoping to get his attention and to get out of this situation because really, she was _busy_. She finally got a reaction out of him when his hands shot up and grabbed her wrists in a firm, but gentle hold and he opened one eye halfway to peek up at her.

"You know, your chest looks extra perky from this view," he commented, smirking as her face bloomed a pretty pink.

"... _Aho_ mine! Get off!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just 30 minutes, 'kay?" he yawned again.

The caramel haired girl wiggled her arms out of his loosening grip and had in mind to push his head off forcefully when she saw just how tired he actually looked with those bags under his eyes. She allowed herself to calm down a little as his lids drooped, sighing in defeat for having a good conscience and allowed him to nod off.

 _I guess I can spare some time..._

The time passed with the birds from earlier chirping above their heads. It combined with the wind rustling gently in the air and formed a type of peaceful tranquility... It made her think that since she _had_ been running around all week being busy, she could afford this peace for just a bit longer.

As if on cue, she received a text from one of the groups she was suppose to meet up with.

Then another text came.

And another.

 _"SOS!"_ , it read.

Tomoko couldn't help the tired sigh leaving her lips. No, this wasn't the type of peace she needed at the moment.

[ Tomoko's notes: _(I wonder if Kise-kun and Kashima-kun have ever met?) Learn how to ditch Aomine-kun like he ditches basketball practice._ ]

* * *

x

So the theme is partially revealed and Kise's out there having a field day ;) Also, who paid attention and can name all of the costumes I mentioned throughout this chapter?

 **Please leave a review :)**

 ****Please also enjoy this lovely poem made by Astrid Claire!****

 _Here she comes, Little Silvereye._  
 _There she perches on a branch so high._  
 _She sings a song, "Spring is here!"_  
 _Now she finds more birds flocking near._

 _Sweet Bluebird singing so free,_  
 _Unnoticed you may be, feathers so neat_  
 _Red Cardinal of the Wild flies by,_  
 _Two unlikely birds together, oh my...!_

 _Lovely Canary, his songs so radiant_  
 _Fierce Bluejay, his gaze so defiant_  
 _Pretty Galah, attached to his side_  
 _Purple Martin, now along for the ride_

 _Alas, they arrive! Their flight so esteemed._  
 _The Turaco, feathers so noble and green_  
 _Not to forget His Majesty with raven's eye_  
 _The Summer Tanager, the songbird of sighs_

 _Now they perch on this single tree,_  
 _"Oh, which song is more for me?"_  
 _Says Silvereye in all her woes,_  
 _Yet the other birds stay even so._

 _This playful flock, alike to a brigade_  
 _Seem more like competition as of late,_  
 _Which alpha shall fly with the prize?_  
 _That is the heart of Little Silvereye._


	3. Chapter 3

**99 Problems**

x

Disclaimer: _Kuroko no Basuke_ belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.

* * *

 **Task #5: make decorations for the bakery (Monday)**

* * *

Tomoko walked through the sparsely packed hall with students during break the following week on Monday; her gaze looking over the stack of homework notebooks in her arms that she had to take to the staff room for her literature teacher. Just as she was thinking about not trying to bump into anyone, she nearly ran into Takao Kazunari from class 1-A when he rushed out of his class.

"Takao-kun!" she greeted. A scheming smile crept on Takao's face upon seeing her and he showed her a green notebook.

"Ah, Tomo-chan! Are you going to the staff room? Can you bring this over for me?"

"Sure!" she replied and he set the notebook on top of her stack. "Do you need me to put this in a specific place?"

Takao looked behind him for a moment like he was checking for something before turning back to her with a quick nod. "Just put it somewhere high up where Shin—uh, people don't typically look! I'm entrusting you with this!"

"Eh?" Tomoko questioned his odd request but didn't get a reply because he quickly ushered her away. _I wonder what he's so giddy about..._ she thought obliviously when she was far down the hall, just missing an angry Midorima coming out of the classroom with an intent to kill.

 _"TAKAO!"_

 _"Oh hi, Shin-chan! F-Fancy seeing you here!"_

 _"Do not pay dumb with me! You have my lucky item... Return it before I write you up for misconduct."_

 _"Ehehehe, about that..."_

When Tomoko finally reached the staff room, she called in greeting to the teachers who may be inside when she realized that the room was empty. Shrugging, she walked over to her literature teacher's desk to drop off the pile of homework. Once the job was done, she did a quick arm stretch before her attention drew to the notebook Takao gave her.

"Oh yeah!" she picked it up and examined it. The notebook was new; no marks on the inside and no name on the cover. It came to her that Takao actually wanted her to _hide_ it, but she didn't know why. Knowing the fun-seeking male though, she quickly concluded he was most likely pranking a classmate.

Pulling up a random swivel chair to stand on by a bookshelf, she set the green notebook on top of the dusty surface before pausing with thought. She debated with herself whether she should actually go through with Takao's request since it seemed kind of mean if someone needed to use that notebook later. _Who is he pranking anyway?_

Takao Kazunari had many friends, being a such a cheerful person like herself, but she often saw him hang around one person...

She widened her eyes and stared at the notebook. _Could this be_ his _lucky item?_

Just as that thought dawned to her, someone burst into the staff room. She looked over and paled when she saw a fuming Midorima stalking towards her. She realized that he had noticed the green peeking out from on top of the bookshelf and she quickly grabbed it and tried to come down from the chair. "Mi—!" she yelped when the quick motion caused the wheels on the chair to slide.

"O-Okuma!"

Midorima reflexively reached over when she swung forward and managed to catch her, but then the chair also came crashing over and knocked them both down. The green notebook and a pile of papers from a nearby desk scattered widely around them as they landed on the floor.

"Ow..." Tomoko mumbled as she sat up a minute later. She heard a groan below her and saw Midorima; his glasses had fallen off somewhere during the fall and because he couldn't see well without them, he had to blink a few times to adjust his blurry sight. She realized two things that instant: one, his eyes are _extremely_ pretty, and two, he took the brunt of the fall.

"M-Midorima-kun! Are you okay?"

Midorima finally seemed to focus his sight after a moment, but he wished he hadn't. The caramel haired girl's face was just _inches_ from his own as she peered at him with a face of worry. He also realized two things that instant: one, she smelled like cinnamon and honey and two, she was _on top_ of him.

"G-Get—I-I-uhmm—" he was speaking incoherent words with a red face and she wondered if it was because he was hurt really badly. She tried to check what was wrong by examining his head, chest, and arms with a few pokes but he was still speechless.

"..."

"Where does it hurt? Talk to me please!"

"Shin-chan! Did you find your lucky..." Takao's voice called from just outside of the room; he peeked his head in cautiously and did a double take. "... _Oh_."

"Takao-kun!" Tomoko nearly wailed. "I-I think there's something wrong!"

The male came up to them and peered at the green haired vice president's face. Stifling a laugh, he gave them a both look of sympathy and incredulity. "H-He's... Hahaha!" he finally let it out; he's never seen the green haired male _so_ flustered and disheveled before. Wiping a small tear from the corner of his eye, he continued. "Just... Haha... Try getting off of him first."

The girl seemed to finally understand the problem and scrambled off. Immediately, Midorima was able to let out a breath he was keeping inside from being so close to her and got up with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, Midorima-kun!" she apologized sheepishly. "I didn't realize..."

"Shin-chan, you're still pretty lucky even _without_ your lucky item!" Takao cut in with a tease. The look on his tsundere friend's face was one he'll never forget for the rest of his life. If only he took a picture of it! Whatever punishment was in store would be totally worth it—!

"Scorpio's horoscope predicted terrible luck for you today, _Takao._ An appropriate consequence will be in store for your mischievous act," Midorima said after regaining his cool. He located his glasses and green notebook immediately, and the lens of his glasses reflected a dangerous glint as he placed it back on his face. "The student council room is in need of organizing with last week's rush of paperwork. I will expect you there after school today."

Well, maybe not _totally_ worth it...

"Wait, Shin-chan!" Takao cried out in vain. There was really no room for refusal—it was a dangerous choice to be friends with someone who was so high up on the student council _and_ was a stick in the mud most of the time... Tomoko looked between the two males and jumped when Midorima looked at her next.

 _Is he mad at me for almost helping Takao-kun hide his lucky item?!_

"Okuma... Are you hurt?"

She blinked before letting out relieved sigh. "I-I'm fine!" she beamed. He only nodded and walked past her. _He's not mad!_ She did a victory dance in her head while silently pitying Takao.

"Good. You will be assisting Takao after school," he added as he reached the door.

 _EH?!_

"B-But I still have to help with the festival decorations!" she whimpered, stopping Midorima by pulling on his sleeves. She had the very important job of painting shelves today, so she definitely didn't want to spend her time in the student council room stacking papers! "Let us off easy this time! _P_ _lease_?"

Although it looked like Midorima was about to waver under her pleading salmon eyes, he straightened up and looked away. "...Actions are the seed of fate, Okuma. I will also let you know that your horoscope is down on luck today as well. It will be wise to not be late."

 _This is not the time to talk about my horoscope!_ Tomoko pouted as she watched him leave. She had somehow inadvertently became Takao's partner-in-crime...

"I guess we're in this together now, Tomo-chan," Takao chuckled lightheartedly.

[ Tomoko's notes: _Always question Takao-kun's motive first! Don't mess with Midorima-kun's lucky item TT-TT_ ]

* * *

 **Task #6: form a list of pastries to make (Thursday)**

* * *

The caramel haired class rep closed her planner with a relieved sigh _. We're at the finishing stretch._

They were finally nearing the end of the week and her class just managed to stay on schedule. It was after school, and everyone was currently working hard in the messy classroom; half-finished decorations littered the floor while paper cutouts decorated the walls.

Meanwhile, she had today's task all to herself. They needed an assorted number of goods for the bakery. It was fairly easy to come up with a list of baked goods to make, but she figured it would be better to get opinions from different students in the school. They _are_ going to sell it to the students and their families, after all. _Why don't I make this into a short survey?_ she convinced herself before stepping out of her classroom. Immediately, Momoi called out to her.

"Hey, Kuma-chan! Where are you headed?"

"I'm going to survey random students," Tomoko said, and the other girl's eyes brightened.

"Can I come with you?" she requested. "I was going to give Imayoshi-san the data on the team for our next match and it'll be on the way to the third-years' floor."

Having Momoi tag along wouldn't hurt, she thought, and plus it was easier to have two people asking than one. Tomoko nodded.

"Sure thing!"

...

"W-What kind of sweets I like?" Furihata blinked when the two girls nodded expectantly at him. Girls usually don't ask those type of questions unless they want to make something for the guy they like... _Right?_ But he already has a girl who he likes! "I guess I like daifuku, but—"

 _Varieties of daifuku,_ Tomoko quickly wrote in her notebook and flashed him a thumbs up. "Great! Thanks, Furihata-kun!" She didn't wait for him to answer as she continued forward with Momoi.

The boy was beyond confused, but he snapped out of it quickly when he remembered that Akashi had sent him out to burrow something from the astronomy club. Akashi was terrifying even when he was being _nice_ , so he didn't want to know what would happen if he accidentally pissed the redhead off.

Just thinking about it made him shake like a chihuahua and he rushed away.

...

 _"Would your dad open a shavings account at the bank because he's a barber?"_

Tomoko and Momoi was on the second-years' floor when they witnessed Hyuuga walking away with annoyance ahead of a highly amused Izuki. Riko was shaking her head with exasperation as Teppei chuckled along. The girls split up; Momoi went over to the bespectacled male and the older girl while Tomoko stopped Izuki and Teppei.

"Kiyoshi-senpai, Izuki-senpai!" she called, gaining the two males' attention.

"Okuma-chan! Are you here to share some puns with me today?" the pun master beamed at her.

"Not today," she said and pulled out her notebook. "But I'm here to ask what kind of confection you guys like! It's for our festival theme."

Teppei looked thoughtful at her question and took a second to go over his choices. "Dorayaki is good, don't you think?" he decided at last, and Tomoko nodded happily.

"What about you, Izuki-senpai?"

"Well..." his eyes sparkled. "Words cannot espresso how much I like coffee jelly!"

"Puntastic!" she said with the same sparkle in her eye, scribbling down the suggestion under the growing list _._ She turned back to the pink haired girl, "Momo-chan, did you—"

"HA?! W-What does my boob size have to do with anything!"

Hyuuga was having a hard time pulling the blushing mad Aida back before she could lash out further. Momoi skipped back to Tomoko with a look of nonchalant at the scene behind her. "Fruit sandwiches and sugar donuts," she reported back dutifully while the other girl wrote it down without question.

 _Interesting first-years,_ Teppei thought with a smile.

...

"Excuse me."

The girls turned at the soft voice calling out to them when they were heading towards the stairs. An attractive male with black hair and a single mole under his right eye was walking up to them. Neither of them seemed to recognize the male.

"I just transferred here this morning and I'm trying to find the student council room. Can you help me?" he asked.

 _A transfer student, no wonder!_ Tomoko thought. Though she found it a bit weird that someone would transfer in the middle of a school year instead of the spring.

"Ohhh, so you're the transfer student from America I heard about!" Momoi realized besides the girl. She smiled at him knowingly. "Himuro Tatsuya-san, a second-year, right?" The poker faced male looked surprised at her knowledge of him despite only being in this school for a day, but he nodded.

"Yes... Do I know you?"

"No," she said secretively. "I just get information fast."

 _He's also from America, just like Taiga-chan,_ Tomoko thought with amusement. His initial question resurfaced and she answered him good-naturedly. "The student council room is on the second floor, all the way in the west wing. There'll be a sign on the door when you get there!"

"Ah, _thank you,_ " he said in English out of habit and got ready to head over the direction she told him. Tomoko stopped him and he stared at her. "Yes?"

"Himuro-kun, you'll attend the festival, right? I know you just transferred here, but it's lots of fun!" she asked and he gave her a small nod. She then smiled, "Also, if you don't mind me asking, what type of confection do you like?"

"Hm..." he blinked slowly in thought. " _Waffles_."

Tomoko scribbled it down as _wafuls (?)_ because she didn't know the English spelling. She'll have to ask Kagami later.

...

When the girls turned the corner, Tomoko spotted someone coming out of the bathroom and was about to go up and ask him the usual question when Momoi tugged at her sleeve.

"Kuma-chan... That's Hanamiya Makoto. He's an extremely unpleasant person."

Tomoko was about to say _'well, he can't be that bad'_ when Hanamiya noticed them staring and strolled over with his hands in his pockets.

"First-years?" he leered down at them with a mix of disgust and amusement. "What are you guys doing here? I can write you up for roaming the halls like idiots when you should be working on that stupid festival."

"We're actually doing just that, Hanamiya-san," Tomoko stated without missing a beat. "It'll be great if you can help answer a quick question."

Hanamiya's face immediately morphed into a friendlier expression at her explanation. "Well, why didn't you say so? I'll love to help..." he smiled down at the caramel haired girl and she brightened up.

"Then, can you—"

" _Idiooooot!_ You really think I'd say that?" he stuck out his tongue tauntingly before walking away, leaving Tomoko stupefied. "Get lost, idiot."

The pink haired girl sighed. "I told you so."

...

Tomoko tallied all of the suggestions in her notebook after asking over fifty or so people altogether. She felt that she got a good idea of what their list of sweets for the festival should consist of and can conclude the survey.

"Hey, you're the girl asking about sweets and stuff, right?" A blonde third-year, Fukui Kensuke, suddenly came up to the girls and asked. When Tomoko confirmed, he pointed to his burly friend who was walking towards them from the end of the hall. "You mind asking that guy too? His name's Okamura."

"Eh—?"

Tomoko barely had time to ask about the third-year's sudden request when the friend in question came up to them. Fukui gave her an expectant nudge and she quickly cleared her throat. "O-Okamura-san! What's your favorite confection?" She blinked at how the male jumped back in total surprise before pointing at himself with a look of disbelief.

"M-ME? You're talking to me?!" Okamura asked with confusion. The girl nodded with a grin and he grew weak on his knees. "I... I... I like _purin_ (pudding)!" he shouted with happy tears in his eyes.

Fukui gave her a thumbs up and whispered, "Thanks. I'll buy something from your class at the festival."

Tomoko was still very confused after walking away from the two third-years. Momoi, on the other hand, giggled knowingly. As a data collector, she had good amounts of information on most of the students in her school, so she knew Okamura's dilemma. "Fukui-san is a good friend," she mused.

[ Tomoko's notes: _Momo-chan surprisingly knows about a lot of people!_ ]

* * *

 **Task #7: flyer design, printing flyer copies (Friday)**

* * *

 _"...Okuma-chan? Okuma-chan!"_

Tomoko was pulled out of dreamland from the voice calling her name and raised her head up fully from her desk. She blinked a few times to focus on the person before her. "Yachi-chan?"

Yachi Hitoka looked relieved that she was finally awake and pulled out a yellow folder. "I-I wanted to give you the festival flyer you told me to design. I finished it last night..." she said meekly. "Sorry to wake you up. Are you tired?"

"A bit. Last night I was trying to make a few of the items we're gonna sell for Sunday and got too carried away with the time," Tomoko admitted with a sheepish smile before focusing her attention on the colorful paper in front of her. She immediately widened her eyes. The title stood out boldly and cute drawings accompanied the neat words in the middle; it was almost unbelievable that it was all done by hand. "This looks so good, Yachi-chan! I'll get this copied right away!"

The shorter girl blushed meekly and rubbed the side of her arm modestly at the praise. "My mom also gave me some design advice..." she insisted. "And also, it's lunch time now, Okuma-chan. You can always copy it later."

 _No wonder the classroom is oddly empty..._ Kuroko and Kagami must have left her to nap after seeing that she was really tired. "Ah, I'm not hungry and I want to get this copied right away! It won't take long and I can always eat my bento later," Tomoko said. At her reassurance, the short girl nodded and left.

With a yawn, Tomoko took her things and left as well. She turned down the hall and went down towards the student council room. When she got there, the door was left ajar so she knocked and hoped that someone was in there; but, there was no one in the room. She set down her bento on the table and headed towards the printer with a frown.

"I don't know how to use this..." she blinked at all of the buttons on the top of the machine with confusion. It was all pictures and she didn't understand over half of them. "Which one is the copy button?!"

Knowing that she had to line up the flyer to the edge under the copying lid, she then started to press the first button she felt looked like the photocopy option. When it didn't do anything, she pressed another, then another. When the machine finally started to whir with sound, she jumped back with surprise. Something was making weird clacking noises. _D-Did I break it?!_ She quickly jabbed the 'cancel' button but the noise still persisted. _Okay, calm down! Maybe I..._ she realized that the screen on the machine was relaying a message when the noise finally stopped.

'SELF-CHECK STATUS: READY.'

"Oh..." Tomoko laughed at herself. Maybe her lack of sleep was messing with her nerves... She carefully pressed the last button this time with two rectangles and the printer whirred with activity again, but this time a light passed under the lid and she cheered with relief. "Finally!"

A piece of paper started to slowly push out of the machine and Tomoko waited with great anticipating at the result of her hard work. However, her excitement was short-lived as the paper came out only half-printed as another message flashed on the screen.

'PLEASE CHANGE COLOR INK CARTRIDGE.'

"..." She stared at the offending machine before flopping herself on the table dramatically. "I give up!" she huffed. A light chuckle came from the doorway and she immediately lifted her head and blushed. Akashi was staring at her defeated form with a look of amusement.

"A-Akashi-kun?"

"I went to contact the office supplies for a new ink cartridge," he revealed and walked over to the machine to pick up the messed up print as well as the original.

"Oh!" Tomoko sighed with relief. The redhead was silent as he read over the flyer. She peered at him with a thoughtful expression; it looked like he was looking over the particular part where it detailed their _cosplay challenge game_ with great interest. "Um, Akashi-kun?" she called carefully. "How long until I can copy this? I need a hundred of them before the festival."

Akashi looked back up at her then, a mysterious glint passing through his heterochromatic eyes. "The new cartridge should be here soon. I'll have them ready for you."

"Oh, thank you so much!" Tomoko beamed with a sweet smile as he took a seat in his usual chair. She didn't realize this earlier, but he had a game of shogi set up on the table from before she walked in the room. They both noticed the bento that was set just a foot away from the board.

"It's lunch time. You should eat, Okuma-san," the redhead said without looking up from his game. It was a silent invitation for her to stay, and she readily complied.

"Where's your lunch, Akashi-kun?" she wondered while opening her own. She cocked her head in thought, not remembering a time where she actually witnessed the male eat in the cafeteria or in the student council room. "I only ever see you play shogi at lunch time."

"It's the only time I'm able to do so."

She gave the short response a bemused pout. She knew he was the heir to his father's company and being the president of the school body was a lot of work, but she wondered if he was actually always so busy that he didn't even have the leisure to enjoy something he liked without some sacrifice. With a determined expression, she moved over to the chair next to the male and pushed her lunch forward.

"If you don't mind, please take my lunch!" she returned his raised brows with a lopsided smile. "I'm not that hungry," she confessed. All of the samples she tried last night and this morning was still sitting heavy in her stomach, much like how sleep was in her eyes. "I'll much rather take a nap right now, so please take it."

Akashi regarded her curiously. He could see the determination for him to eat in her eyes and he let out a short sound of amusement.

"If you insist."

She nodded with satisfaction and laid her head on her arms, hopeful as he picked up her unused chopsticks and examined a piece of fried tofu. Fatigue was quick to take over her body, but before she dozed off again, she mumbled something to Akashi.

"Please wake me up... In five..."

...

 _"...Okuma-san."_

Once again, she was awaken from dreamland, this time by Akashi. She rubbed her eyes while sitting up. Even though she was still groggy, she felt much better and more refreshed from the short nap. Though, she quickly realized that she had slept through the entire hour of lunch and it was minutes before the next class will begin. A freshly copied stack of the flyers sat neatly next to her.

"You didn't wake me up to print this...?" she blinked the rest of the sleep out of her eyes and looked at Akashi. His game of shoji was left unfinished; it looked like both sides were at a tie.

"You looked tired," Akashi said. His lips twitched upward as he looked at her, "It was evident by your snores. It was better to have you get it all out now than for you to disrupt class later."

If she didn't know better, she'd say Akashi Seijuuro was jesting her. But disregarding it, her eyes shone with happiness when she noticed the now-empty lunch box. The warning bell for the end of lunch rang and she picked up the box along with the stack of flyers.

"Thanks for doing this, Akashi-kun," she said, her words intending to refer to not only his good deed, but for him actually taking the time eat a proper lunch for once. "I'll be leaving now. The next time I see you might be at the festival!"

Akashi nodded and she took this time to leave. "The festival..." he suddenly stopped her midway out the door. "Are you going to be participating in your 'game'?"

"Are you asking if I'm going to be cosplaying?" her lips curled into a grin when her eyes locked with his curious mismatched orbs. "Why don't you come participate and find out for yourself?"

 _That is undeniably a challenge..._ Akashi picked up the red side's Gold General from his board with a smirk. He never backs down from a challenge.

The piece clicked in front of the black's King.

He never loses, either.

[ Tomoko's notes: _Akashi-kun is still mysterious..._ ]

* * *

 **Task #8: final day for decorations and bakery prep! (Saturday)**

* * *

"Eggs?"

"Check."

"Flour?"

"Check."

"Butter?"

"Check..."

The list went on until Tomoko and her team of classmates helping with baking made sure they got every ingredient in bulk that was needed. Today, they took over the first-years' home economics kitchen for their baking prep. It was going to be a long day ahead for not only Tomoko and her class, but the rest of the school as well. Every student was at school, finalizing their preparations for the big day tomorrow.

While she was in charge of the food aspect, Kuroko and Kagami was back in the classroom with the other half of the class working on their bakery set up. Tomoko grinned as the first batch of confections was pushed into one of the ovens.

 _Everything_ was going smoothly!

She quickly got working on another batch and checked up on the status of the other bakers, seeing if anyone needed help. This was her area of expertise, after all, so anything she can do to help that will make things easier—

"M-Murasakibara-san! You can't open the oven like that!"

There was a small crash as the purple-headed giant twisted around from the warning and bumped into a girl whisking eggs. The metal bowl of half-beaten eggs fell to the floor with a loud _clang!_ and a _splat!_

"Oh? Sorry..." he apologized halfheartedly. When his violet eyes landed on Tomoko's wide ones, he gave her a lazy smile. "Tomo-chin~ Are you making a sponge cake? I want some~"

It was amazing what his nose can pick up on—Tomoko realized that she should've expected the giant to show up sooner or later because he never passed up on the chance to sneak in a snack. But it was the worst possible time for him to come and distract her team.

"Mura-kun, shouldn't you be setting up for class 1-C?"

"Hm? But I did a lot already," Murasakibara complained with a childish pout. "I wanted to come see you on my break."

"You mean you want to eat our pastries..." she mumbled dryly, but allowed the male to stay and take a seat by her. She could see that he was eyeing the rising batch of sponge cakes in the oven and got an idea. "Let's make a deal, then. If you can help me with baking during your break, I'll make an entire tray of sweets just for you. Okay?"

As much as Murasakibara didn't like to do any work, he didn't think twice and agreed to the deal because there was a promising reward at the end. Tomoko smiled and gestured for him wash his hands, then to help her with mixing a giant bowl of anko filling and rolling them into balls. Satisfied that he was actually working diligently at his task, she continued with the sponge cake batter.

"Tomo-chin, this is really good~"

Not even five minutes later, she turned at the giant's mumbling voice just in time to see him pop another ball of filling into his mouth as he worked. While it wasn't that big of a deal normally, if _he_ kept this up, there will be less than half of the filling left.

"Stop eating the filling, Mura-kun! That's for daifuku!" Tomoko chided and got him to pause for a moment.

"I like daifuku, too," he nodded.

"That's not the point..." she sighed, deciding that it'd be better if she took cared of the filling and had Murasakibara deal with the raw batter since the ingredients wasn't edible yet. _This is actually causing more work than normal..._ She watched the pouting male pour the batter into different baking dishes without a hitch and went back to her own task. _Oh well, at least he's trying._

As she was halfway through with filling the prepared mochi shells with anko filling, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Murasakibara was surprisingly fast, and she happily directed him to the other station to replace the baked cakes with new batter. "Remember to wear oven mitts—" she said before dropping her jaws. "B-Be careful!"

Instead of grabbing the dishes one by one, he's managed to take out the entire metal shelf with all ten cakes lined orderly on top of it. Just looking at it made her nervous!

"I got them out all at once, Tomo-chin. Isn't that better?" Murasakibara drawled lazily. He was drooling at the cakes as he set them down on the counter. "Ne, can I have a reward now?"

 _A reward?_ Tomoko raised her brows up at him before using herself to barricade him from the goods. "Not until the end. We made a deal, remember?"

Murasakibara drew a big pout and walked closer to her. In a blink, he had her between him and the counter, his long arms forming a cage around her to prevent her from getting away as his form towered over her smaller one intimidatingly.

"But this smells so good."

"No, Mura-kun."

"Tomo-chin..."

"The answer is still no," Tomoko finalized. Murasakibara wasn't having it, though. He drew his body even closer until her face was touching his chest. "M-Mura—!" She found herself fully enveloped into his arms and chest, the closeness nearly crushing her. _"Got it~"_ She hear him say, the words rumbling from his firm chest before she was finally released. He had a proud grin as he showed her a chunk of sponge cake in his free hand.

Tomoko sighed loudly and he took advantage of her agape mouth and stuffed the first chunk of cake into her mouth. The fluffy texture melted on her tongue.

"Ne..." the giant loomed down at her pleasantly surprised face and grinned lazily. "Is it as sweet as Tomo-chin?"

 _Wh-What...!_

Murasakibara, satisfied that he was the reason for the blush on the girl's face, let out a small hum and reached behind her once again. There was no sound of objections and he dug in because he successfully shocked her into silence. Tomoko had to wonder—did he plan this all out? He didn't seem like the type who would be this sly, but when food was the motivation...

Whatever the case, she can contest that her last day of preparations wasn't _nearly_ as smooth as Murasakibara Atsushi was.

[ Tomoko's notes: _CAUTION! Mura-kun is exceptionally good at finessing sweets... Do not give into his tricks!_ ]

* * *

x

 **Here's part 3! Please leave a review :)**


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